Wednesday, July 06, 2005

B.B. King is interviewed by Relish Magazine of northwest North Carolina, and he's upset about the lack of blues on the radio (note: the "young" Robert Cray is 52 years old!)

Yet King, acclaimed around the world, still laments what he believes is a lack of respect for blues music in America, where radio stations mostly play hip-hop, pop and rock.

"We get treated poorly," he said. "I'm thinking about the younger ones, who are coming along today, not B.B. We've had several superstars, like the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, like the young Robert Cray, and they don't get play. They don't get exposed."

Bird Lives! Here's a nice feature on Charlie Parker from the Voice of America that's available to read, stream or download.

Charlie Parker forever changed the performance and writing of jazz music. He developed a new style of jazz called bebop. It was different from the dance, or swing, style that was popular for years.